We are nearing the end of summer here in Illinois and if you have a garden, it is probably going crazy right now! And maybe you too are trying to figure out what to do with everything! It can be overwhelming for sure. I do end up giving a lot of stuff away, but I try to use up as much for ourselves as possible. One of my favorite things to make with our tomatoes is my homemade spaghetti sauce. Once you try this, it is awfully hard to go back to buying it in jars at the store. (Although I ALWAYS have it on hand because I am not opposed to using it and you can make some pretty quick, easy and delicious meals with it.) Anyways, back to the subject at hand. Making your own pasta sauce can be intimidating, but I promise you it is actually quite simple!
What are the best tomatoes to use?
Roma tomatoes are the best when it comes to making sauces. They contain less seeds and water, resulting in a thicker sauce.
Can I remove the skins after roasting?
A lot of people do prefer to remove the skins, but I find that after I blend it up well enough I do no even notice them so I leave them on, but you can certainly take them off.
How to make it:
Start by coring about 15 Roma tomatoes and cutting them in half.
Add them to a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Add a couple bell peppers, one red onion, and a peeled and seeded zucchini. Drizzle with avocado oil and salt and pepper. (I also added a handful of cherry tomatoes to this batch just to get rid of them!)
Cut the tops off of two bulbs of garlic. Drizzle with avocado oil and salt and pepper. Wrap tightly with foil and set on the pan with the other vegetables.
Roast in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Drain off as much of the liquid as you can. when they are finished cooking.
Transfer everything to a large bowl. Add 2 tbs tomato paste. Add 4 tbs chopped fresh basil, 2 tbs chopped fresh oregano, 1 tbs dried thyme, salt and pepper and about 1/8 cup sugar. Use an immersion blender or large food processor to blend it to your desired consistency.
I like mine pretty smooth, but you can leave it as chunky as you like!
When I am making a batch to eat that day, I will brown up about 1.5 lbs of ground beef with a diced onion and cook a 1 lb box of spaghetti. I will add the sauce to the meat mixture and let simmer for about an hour on low. Then I will add about a cup of the pasta water and the spaghetti and mix it all together. This is completely optional if you are making it to can or freeze or if you don’t like/eat meat.
Recipe
If you do make this recipe, please leave a comment and rating! I love hearing from you and it helps so much! Thank you!
Homemade Spaghetti (Bolognese) Sauce
Ingredients
- 15 Roma Tomatoes any tomatoes will work but Romas have less seeds and water, resulting in a thicker sauce
- 2 Bell Peppers, any color
- 1 Onion any color
- 1 Zucchini peeled and seeds removed
- 2 Garlic Bulbs
- 3-4 tbs Avocado Oil
- 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, finely chopped
- 1/4 Cup Fresh Oregano, Finely chopped
- 1 tbs Dried Thyme
- 2 tbs Tomato Paste
- 1/8 Cup White Sugar
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Core the tomatoes, slice them in half and place on a parchment lined baking sheet, along with all of the other vegetables.
- Cut the tops off the bulbs of garlic. Drizzle with the oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap tightly with foil and set on pan with other vegetables.
- Roast for about 45 minutes. When you remove from the oven, drain off as much excess water as possible.
- Add everything to a large bowl, along with the seasonings, tomato paste and sugar.
- Use an immersion blender or large food processor to blend to desired consistency.
